Author name: Enthusiast

I work alone, so when I need to move a 70 lb. chunk of rough lumber over my jointer, I’ve got to be tricky if I don’t want to be sore the next day. For me, the best trick has been to squirt some Blaster Dry Lube on the bed and fence after a few passes. In fact, this Teflon-based lubricant is really the only thing that makes it possible […]

The post Want to Feel Twice as Strong? Get Blaster appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

The June 2017 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine, which features Caleb James’ homage to Hans Wegner on the cover, is in the mail right now to print subscribers, and the notice for digital subscribers went out earlier today. (It’s also now available at ShopWoodworking.com.) The Online Extras are live at popularwoodworking.com/jun17. The issue will be on newsstands in a couple weeks as well, and once it’s there, if you mosey […]

The post PWM June 2017 Issue ‘Extras’ – Handsaw Basics appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

When people injure themselves in the shop, their first reaction is to grab the wound and refuse to look. Sadly, this is the same attitude many woodworkers take with the squareness of their components: They refuse to look and hope things will work out. While there are lots of areas of woodworking where squareness doesn’t matter (stick chairs, for one), if you are going to build rectilinear boxes and hope […]

The post Don’t Close Your Eyes to the Square appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

You may already know about the French cleat, but if you haven’t heard of it, this neat trick is a great simple way to hang cabinets, wall racks or shelving. In this excerpt below, Popular Woodworking’s very own David Thiel explains how he used this simple yet effective method of wall-mounting to hang a wine rack  – a project that is featured in the new book “Simple & Stylish Woodworking: 20 Projects for Your Home.” […]

The post The French Cleat: A Great Way to Hang Cabinets or Shelving appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

CNC Skills: Part One: All about Origin Points The Origin Point is your prime reference position No matter what kind of woodworking you do, reference points and accurate measurements are critically important for woodworkers. This is particularly true when using any kind of woodworking machinery. For example, if you’re using a table saw to rip a board to 4” wide, set your fence to 4”. To set up that fence […]

The post CNC Skills: Part One – The Origin Point appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.

I was hanging out at the Lost Art Press open house last weekend, and Dayton-area woodworking and tool collector Eric Brown brought down a crazy box to show Christopher Schwarz and me. It’s made with the same sort of dovetails you may have seen on the Single Brothers’ Workshop at Old Salem, or other Germanic timber structures. These dovetails, constructed solely of tails, weren’t meant for small-scale work…but there’s a […]

The post Box Made with ‘Log Cabin Dovetails’ appeared first on Popular Woodworking Magazine.